Not The News I Want To Receive

The statistical breakdown of the Buccaneers offense continues, and I'm going to look at a certain position which will also be vital for Garcia, that being wide receiver. People look at the players on paper, and there's not too much to dislike. Two wily veterans in Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, and two young stalwarts in Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall. But when it comes to performance on the field... not so much. But how exactly do they match up with the rest of the NFL? Well, using the DPAR system, we're about to find out.

We'll start with the best of the best, and coming in at #1 with a DPAR of 46.0 is Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts. His teammate, Marvin Harrison, is not far behind at #2 with 44.3. Surprised? Don't be. While these are two skilled football players, a big part of their performance is the play of Peyton Manning. Obviously, the play of the QB affects the entire offense, most of the all the WR. This will all make sense when you see that Tampa Bay's top WR, in terms of DPAR, is #59. Mr. Joey Galloway, with 5.7. If you're disappointed, wait until you hear that the next best WR wasn't even a starter! Ike Hillard is ranked 70th with -0.4, and Mike Clayton isn't too far behind at 77th with -3.8. Stovall, on the other hand, was in a different group, specifically the group which only had 10-49 passes thrown to them. He came in with a DPAR of 1.7, doing better than Hilliard and Clayton, albiet with fewer oppertunities.

One other criticism of the Bucs' pass-catchers last season was that they don't go "all out" to catch passes, namely Galloway. The Catch %, which represents the percentage of passes to this receiver completed, might tell the story. Keep in mind that this is a reference to incomplete passes, not dropped passes. #84 had a Catch percentage of 44%, wheras Mr. Clutch Ike Hilliard registered a respectable 62%. Even Stovall and Clayton had decent percentages, 54% and 51% respectively. The reasons for this vary. One possible explaination might be that Bruce Gradkowski's inaccuracy, specifically on deep throws. I can remember numerous times where Galloway ran deep down the field only to see the ball intended for him land 10 yards behind him. This certainly could've contributed to the poor catch percentage.

Compare these with the receivers Garcia had in Philly last season. Reggie Brown had decent totals, with a DPAR of 18.6 and caught 51% of the balls thrown his way. Dante Stallworth did his fair share too, with numbers of 12.3 and 49% for each category. In limit opportunities, Greg Lewis registered a DPAR of 8.4 and a catch percentage of 65%. Essentially the 3rd option in Philly last year, he outplayed Galloway if you go by these numbers. Hank Baskett, an undrafted FA no less, had totals of 7.3 and 51%. As you can see, Garcia had plenty of talent around him, which is the biggest knock on him: He needs a good team around him to win, although that can be said of all QB's.

Other notables (DPAR, Catch Percentage):
Terrell Owens: 27.4, 56%
Chad Johnson: 31.4, 57%
Larry Fitzgerald: 27.6, 62%
Chris Chambers: -19.8, 39%